


Dangers of Fraternization

by clio



Category: Misaeng - Fandom, incomplete life, 미생, 미생 | Misaeng | Incomplete Life (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 05:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3108599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clio/pseuds/clio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Yi has a problem and his name is Jang Baek Ki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dangers of Fraternization

**Author's Note:**

> Companion piece to ["Occupational Hazards"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2764553)
> 
> Takes place after episode 14.

**Tuesday**

She stares at the clock displayed at the corner of her computer screen, sighs, drops her head into her hands. Another 20 minutes have passed and she’s yet to make any progress on the presentation that is due by the end of the day. The blank slide stares back at her, its cursor blinking in accusation and disappointment.

Ahn Young Yi has a problem.

She stands, decides she needs a cup of coffee to wake her brain up, and makes her way to the copy room. She massages her shoulders, tries to release the tension in her neck, doesn’t see who is already occupying the room, shredding documents.

“Are you hurt?” Baek Ki asks her when she enters, his eyes running over her.

Young Yi feels her heart jumpstart in her chest. “Baek Ki!”

He feeds the last document into the shredder, comes closer to her, but not too close. “You’re okay?”

“Y-Yes,” she stammers, “I just came to get some coffee.”

He looks like he wants to say something else, but just nods, steps away. Young Yi stands and watches as he goes about making a cup of coffee, and she’s sure that she’s seen him do the same movements a hundred times before, but for a reason she doesn’t want to think about, this time she can’t tear her eyes away, finds his every action fascinating.

She bites her lip, forces her feet to stay put.

Especially since she can’t help but notice how tall he is, how his hair curls just so, how his glasses sit on the bridge of his nose, the slim nature of his body.

Before she knows it, he’s before her again, a simple paper cup of instant coffee his offering. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” she smiles, accepts the cup gratefully.

“No problem,” Baek Ki waves her thanks off with his hand. A beat. “Well, see you later.”

Young Yi watches his retreating form, warming cup in hand, and fluttery heart in chest. She definitely has a problem.

**Wednesday**

When she finds herself riding the elevator with him, she has to hug herself to fight off the light-headed feeling threatening to overcome her. She hates to admit that being alone in the elevator is making her a little bit breathless. A little bit hopeful.

But before she can even get a word out, the doors open and reveal a one Han Seok Yul, whose face breaks out into a smile before he launches enthusiastically into divulging the latest office gossip.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but feel the thrill of anticipation for finally being alone with him, and subsequently disappointed that they were interrupted. Although they had spent many a time just casually hanging out together, as colleagues, as friends (maybe), things were different now. They wouldn't _just_ be going to watch a horror movie together, or to drink by the han river; they wouldn't _just_ be commiserating with each other's work troubles, discussing the work politics of the day. They wouldn't _just_ be Ahn Young Yi and Jang Baek Ki. No, things were different between them now.

It surprised her how easily she was able to think of Baek Ki as something else other than her peer, her friendly comrade in arms. They had been together now for almost two years, seen each other through their tough and trying intern days, had supported each other during those most turbulent months as new employees at One International. They had celebrated each other's victories, and provided sympathetic shoulders to rely on in times of distress. And while she had viewed him as a (permanent) fixture in her life, she hadn't given a serious thought to him beyond someone she saw regularly at work 5 days a week (and some nights). At least, not until he kissed her (or she kissed him, the details were fuzzy, but warm, in her mind).

Which seemed ridiculous to her, as she could now _only_ see him as a man.

Now, it was so obvious to her that over the course of all the time they spent together, between the movie dates and post-work dinners, between pitches of beer and weekend work days, between the lines of friendship and professionalism, Jang Baek Ki had grown to be a person she cared about, worried about, felt something more than just platonic feelings for.

The kiss they shared in the restroom, which still made her cheeks burn, had shown her how much she didn't think of him as just a friend.

**Thursday**

She chews on the end of her pen, makes a few marks on a document as she rounds a corner, and promptly crashes into him, papers sent scattering. Baek Ki reaches out to stabilize her, his hands coming around her shoulders, effectively bringing her into his embrace. She finds her fingers curling into the front of his shirt, feels his muscles underneath the thin fabric.

“Are you alright, Young Yi-sshi?” he asks her, but she’s only half listening, more interested in the fullness of his eyelashes, the hint of stubble on his chin, the smell of his aftershave assaulting her senses.

Mutely, she nods her head.

And he immediately lets go, almost drops her, takes several steps back. He glances around to check for curious eyes, cuts the tension with a comment about blind corners, laughs awkwardly at his own joke.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he says, gestures to the fallen papers around her feet. He drops to his knees, begins gathering, wabbles over to fetch an errant document. Young Yi joins him, collects what she can, and it’s a matter of a moment before he passes the papers back to her in a kind of organized mess, a smile frozen to his face. "Here you go, Young Yi-sshi."

When she takes them from his hand, they do not touch.

**Friday**

They encounter each other in the copy room, and while something in her chest flips, this time the feeling is accompanied by a creeping sense of apprehension at the sight of him.

He clears his throat. “Um, how is your project going?” he asks timidly, respectfully.

“I just have to finish the file before I go,” she replies. A beat, and this time its her who stumbles over her words, “A-are we...still...tonight?”

He is gracious enough to blush at her words, re-adjusts the glasses sitting on his nose. “Uh, right. Yes... tonight,” he says, looks away, clears this throat again.

It’s been a week since their clandestine rendezvous on the rooftop, where they spent countless kisses on each other until she was shaking from the cold. He saw her off in a taxi, and they had made plans to meet the next day for their first proper date. She had taken extra care with her hair and had even spritz a little perfume behind her ears, only to be disappointed when Baek Ki messaged her that his mother had unexpectedly dropped in on him and would be staying the week.

Since then they’d rarely seen each other at work; she was swamped with a pressing deadline, and he had accompanied Assistant Manager Kang on several site visits. And if she did see him at the office, it was usually under the watchful and suspicious eyes of none other than Han Seok Yul. They had to keep their interactions limited to quick late night phone conversations and the occasional message during working hours.

But his mother had left yesterday, her project was just about wrapped up, and their first official date was this evening. She had spent some extra care getting ready for work that morning, decided on wearing a skirt instead of her usual slacks, even applied some makeup. People at the office had complimented her all day. That is, everyone except one person.

“Okay, well, I've got a meeting now...so,” Baek Ki's voice drifts off as he inches towards the doorway. Giving her a parting nod, he departs, and her eyes linger on Baek Ki's departing back.

Again, Young Yi feels disappointment.

\---

It’s approaching the end of the day and at the rate Young Yi is not making progress on her one file, she’s worried that she will neither meet the deadline nor make it to dinner. With only an hour left, she is at her wits’ end. Slamming her hands down on her desk, earning her a curious look from her co-workers, Young Yi stands and, with a determined step, goes to resolve the problem that has been plaguing her.

She finds her way to his desk, only to find it vacant, and with a look of exasperation, she checks the copy room, the break room, several meeting rooms. All empty. Shaking her head in frustration, she wonders if Baek Ki is avoiding her, and begins to feel the absurdity of it all.

This is her workplace; she was here to work. She shouldn’t be this behind on a project that she should have finished yesterday. She shouldn’t be thinking about him more than concentrating on her work. This was not how she should be acting. This was not who she was.

She has a problem, and his name was Jang Baek Ki.

Just as she’s passing the elevators to head back to her desk, she sees one lift open and Baek Ki step out with a female co-worker from his team. He is all smiles, laughing at something she’s said. And Young Yi knows she's not fast enough, not quick enough to avoid being seen, and definitely not quick enough to find the hurt expression on her face.

\---

In the stairwell, they are quiet.

“Why are you avoiding me?” she asks, an accusatory tone lacing through her words, hands firmly placed over her chest, protecting her. She does't try to meet his eyes. Stares at the buttons of his white shirt.

"I... see you all the time,” Baek Ki replies apprehensively. "I talk to you everyday."

“That’s not what I mean.”

He shakes his head. “I know this week has been busy but—”

“That's not it,” Young Yi cuts him off, begins to pace in a small circle, avoids his searching gaze, huffs. “You—”

She stomps her foot in frustration. “You act like you can’t wait to get away from me. Like you can’t stand to be in my presence. You treat everyone else so comfortably. You laugh and joke with them.” There is an unmistakable quiver in her voice as she continues, “And yet whenever we’re together I’m always watching you walk away.”

The silence in the stairwell is deafening. Her words linger in the air, trapped and suffocating them.

“And you… you won’t touch me,” she finally confesses, her voice breaking.

“Young Yi…” he calls out to her gently.

“Did you change your mind?” she finally faces him, a glint in her eye. “If you did, just tell me. I can handle it.”

He sighs. “No, I didn’t change my mind,” Baek Ki replies slowly, his face grave, his voice low.

Young Yi shakes her head. “Then, why?”

"I didn't change my mind," he begins, rubs his temples. "Far from it, actually."

She just stares at him, waits for him to explain himself.

“I—I was worried that people would be able to see,” he confesses. “We agreed to not tell anyone for now, but I didn’t know how to act around you. How to treat you like everyone else...”

He rubs his neck, adjusts his glasses. “I couldn’t touch you. Not if I wanted to get any work done. Not if I wanted to end up kissing you in front of the whole office and really giving people something to talk about,” he smiles sheepishly. “Just—Just knowing you’re around the corner is a big enough distraction as it is.”

“I’m sorry if I was cold to you. If it seemed like I didn't care, or had been swayed. I'm serious about you, Ahn Young Yi, and I—"

Baek Ki doesn’t get to finish that thought, however, because in that moment Young Yi throws herself into his arms, grabs his face, and kisses him square on the mouth. He falls back against the wall from the force of her, lets her kiss him breathless.

Young Yi wraps her arms around his neck, moulds her body to his, and sighs into his mouth when he responds to her touch. They make this one kiss count and count and count for all the times they’ve held back, couldn’t meet, had to say goodnight to each other with a wave of their hand.

\---

From the stairwell on the 15th floor of One International, Ahn Young Yi emerges, smoothing down her hair, shortly followed by Jang Baeki Ki, who re-adjusts his tie. They keep their heads down as they return to their desks, all swollen and bitten lips and glowing eyes.

Young Yi sighs dreamily in her seat, no longer troubled as she faces the stack of papers on her desk, feels confident and vindicated that her trust and feelings for Baek Ki hadn't been misplaced after all.

A smile creeps on her face when, at 5 p.m., she finds herself waiting for the elevators with him, feels a delicious shiver run down her spine when they're the only people to enter the elevator. Feels her cheeks burn when, Baek Ki stands closer to her than is polite, gently brushes her hand with his, and in a whisper, tells her how pretty he looks.

And Ahn Young Yi swears, in that moment, that she doesn't have a single care in the world.


End file.
